New BFF: Chocolatenwaffles’s Blog

Most of you know Donna right? If you’ve not been to her site before, please do because she’s an amazing blogster and I love to read all of her posts ! She’s a real caring person, big animal-lover, she hated having to read Lolita last semester, on her playlist you can find Imagine Dragons and also the GooGoo Dolls with Iris, she once used a ball of hair from her dog as a bookmark (shouldn’t have put it out there Donna ;-)), she tried (and failed) to install a book buying ban, AND she’s a major chocaholic (and she bloody well gets away with it without gaining any weight!).

Btw, I took an Are You A Chocolate Addict Test myself and Donna, you are not alone girl. Before anyone says anything, I have no intention of quitting eating these either.

Anyway, here are my questions for our biggest choccie addict:

Name: I’m Donna all the time, but my mother has wonderfully ridiculous nicknames for me, I’m Wifey to my hubby, my best friend from high school has renamed me Pap (please, don’t ask), Marshie aka Drew @thetattooedbookgeek calls me Waffles, and my bestie Jill @rantantravesaboutbooks calls me … well, bestie. Logical. Marie @drizzleandhurricanes says I’m her Sweechie and Anne @inkedbrownies always has fun names for me. Usually food-related.

Basically, I love nicknames and my fellow blogger friends tend to agree on it!

Age: My ID says 26. My clothes say 20. My head says 10 and a half. I’m waiting for my Hogwarts letter.

What did you study or do you study now / what is your current job?

Do you want the short story or the long one? I first studied Law after high school, but I was missing some super powers and brain cells, so I moved to English and Japanese languages applied to management. If I translate this degree into reality, I had 36 hours of classes every week, I was learning two languages, one as an advanced student and the other as a beginner. I’m pretty sure we were all on steroids! We had half a dozen minors, including Law, Economy, Sociology, Marketing… After two years and a half working my ass off, it dawned on my all I wanted to do was to go back to basics. I transfered to English studies for my final year, and it’s paradise!

I’m also working as a tutor for first-year students.

Do you have any other hobbies?

Is watching Lisa Eldrige’s videos considered a hobby? I’m obsessed with her makeup videos. I’m terrible at applying anything on my eyes, probably because I’m almost blind without my glasses. And have you ever tried applying makeup with your glasses on? No good.

I bake a lot, mainly because of Claire’s recipes but also because I hate buying snacks and cakes from stores, you never know what’s inside and there are a thousand things I can’t eat, which makes buying food a nightmare. I’m getting good at it, even though my cakes are yummier than they look. I still have to work on the presentation.

I’m a language love so I spend hours working on my English. I just enrolled in an online academy to sound more American. Yeah, I know, what an idea! I read about the language a lot, I study grammar for fun and shadow my favorite scenes from my TV shows (which means I’m the terrible girl who pauses every 5 minutes, speaks at the same time as my referent actor, and generally just annoys everyone watching the show)

I binge-watch shows. November is all about Gilmore Girls, but I also need to finish Victoria, Ray Donovan, Parenthood and Madam Secretary. Add to the mix a couple of Doctor Who episodes from the Tennant era and you have my schedule for the next 30 days.

I practice Yoga when the temperature of the room allows it and if I can gather enough energy to move my lazy and stiff body. They say you get all flexible with Yoga, but let me tell you, your body will fight it!

A few hours a day, I take care of my baby dog Yuki and her sidekick Iris!

Your favourite color?

I discovered that my subconscious loves yellow during a hypnose session. Not a flashy one, rather the trendy mustard color. The rest of me prefers red.

Do you collect anything (besides books)?

Shoes. Which is stupid because I don’t leave the house enough to wear them! But I can’t help wanting more and more shoes. Also I’m petite and I look like a 12 year old without heels so they’re a must when I need to look like a grown-up. Sorry for the lack of shoes pic, they’re all hidden away for the moment !

What’s the name of the book that you’ve had the longest? Have you read it?

I believe it’s the Little Brown Bear series. I have had it since I was a toddler. I read them a thousand times. I’m keeping them for my own babies one day because Little Brown Bear is so cute.

Have you ever regretted a book you purchased? A book that sounded so promising but you wished you’d have spent your money on another book after reading it?

Haven’t we all? I remember regretting spending 30€ on A Game of Thrones because I could never finish it. I don’t mind when the price is low, but an expensive book that ends up being a disappointment haunts me. Imagine how many paperbacks I could have gotten with those 30€!

 Do you listen to audio books?

Yes! It usually means the dishes won’t be washed with too much care and my showers will last longer because there is no way I can stop in the middle of a chapter so I wait half naked in the bathroom to know what happens.

Do you have a favorite genre?

Psychological thrillers! They are my spooky reads, my happy place (yep, that’s weird to find pleasure in reading about characters living terrible lives). I find human beings more scary than any creature of the night.

What is the book highest on your wishlist right now?

Cinder. My sweet Marie @drizzleandhurricanes wrote a brilliant review of the last book in the series so I decided to give it a go. Want to bet I’ll be on the unpopular side of the opinion once again? :p

How is your library organized?

Tediously? I wish I could do rainbow shelves, but it’s too complicated so I stick with the alphabetical order by author. I need to be able to locate a book within two minutes. Also, my books have different homes. Some of them are at my mother’s on an old desk, the others are at my place on regular bookcases, which means there are holes in my shelves. The control freak in me is trying not to care, but I can’t wait for the day they all get reunited.

Do you read more ebooks or physical books?

I make sure to mix both the genre and the format. If I spend too much time on my Kindle, my eyes start to sulk and my fingers miss the touch of a page. Still, I am pretty sure I have been reading more ebooks since I started blogging.

Do you have a favorite book?

 

Furiously Happy. Because it’s hard to be happy, because we all need little raccoons in our lives, and because it’s okay to talk about mental health. And seriously, look at that cover, tell me you aren’t smiling back at Rory!

What’s the cover in your collection that you’re most proud of?

I am proud of the different Harry Potter series editions I own. I love comparing the French, US and British covers. They all have a different meaning to me, but all titles remind my of childhood. There is no cover more magical and beautiful than the cover you grew up with.

Do you have any idea how many books you own? <100, >100, >200, >300 …?

There are 114 ebooks on my Kindle (thanks technology for telling me!) and approximatively 200 books on my shelves. More are hidden in my grandmother’s attic but I don’t remember well enough to count them.

What’s the title of the last book you purchased?

The Stranger in my Home, by Adele Parks thanks to Kate @bibliophilebookclub who told me it was only ,99 on Amazon, and Three Dark Crowns for the Hype or Like Friday group.

What was your favorite author when you were a child?

R.L Stine. I spend endless evenings stuck in my Goosebumps stories. At the time, I enjoyed being scared and I did not mind creatures and ghosts. Then I grew up and became a wuss!

From which author do you have most books?

Janet Evanovich. I own 16 books from her Stephanie Plum series. I’m going slow because I don’t want to catch up and have to wait for a new release. I think 21 are available. Some stories are starting to sound the same but Stephanie is a friend of mine and I can always count on her to cheer me up. Plus, I want to know if she’ll finally settle with Joe or if Ranger is still an option!

Are there books you’ve read 2 or 3 times?

Beside Little Brown Bear? Harry Potter and Furiously Happy are lucky enough to be reread once in a while. I reread Stephanie Plum when I’m sick, it’s hard to stay ill when you need to chase FTA (you need to read the first book to know more !)

How many books are there on your Goodreads challenge this year and how many have you read already?

I set my challenge to 30 because I had only started coming back to books and I wanted to avoid pressure. I panic when I feel like I won’t be able to meet my goal and no one wants to see me drown every book in a pool of tears and grease from comfort food because I haven’t read as many books as I thought I had to. Caring too much about numbers takes the fun out of reading! Still, I’m happy I reached the original 30 and I’m currently reading my 65th book! Not bad for my first year back in the realm of pages!

Can you spell your name with the first letters of titles in your book case (name these titles+authors)?

It depends, my name can be spelled so differently after a glass of Sex on the Beach! :p

D => Dead Connection, An Ellie Hatcher novel, Alafair Burke
O => One for the Money, Janet Evanovich
N => Never Always Sometimes, Adi Alsaid
N => No Kiss Goodbye, Janelle Harris
A => All is not forgotten, Wendy Walker

In case you missed it, these are the BFF’s (Blog Friends Forever) I posted about before :

• Martina – The Mystery Corner
• Liis – Cover to Cover
• Anne – Inked Brownies
• Danielle – Books, Vertigo and Tea
• Drew – TheTattooedBookGeek
• Jillian – Rant and Rave About Books
• Meg – Magic of Books
• Betty – Bookish Regards
• Anais – Zeezee with Books
• Nicki – Secret Library

Thank you Donna for answering my questions! I’m so happy you wanted to do this!

Next up will be…. Chitra @ Books & Strips.. coming soon !